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Beyond the Modern University Toward a Constructive Postmodern University Marcus Peter Ford |
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2006.
The modern university, which has its origins in 18th and 19th century Germany, is currently at war within itself. It seeks to portray itself on the one hand as an engine of economic development and, on the other hand, as existing for the sake of disinterested scholarly reflection and as a repository for human culture. The author outlines an entirely different conception of what the university must become if it is to be a force for good in the world. The author contends that the modern university actively participates in the breakdown of human communities and the destruction of the natural world. He identifies the university's commitments to academic disciplines, philosophical materialism, and economism (the modern faith that infinite economic growth is both possible and desirable) as the roots of its negative impact, and calls for changes that would make the university a powerful agent for good in the world.
CONTENTS: Introduction. A Social History of the University. A Brief Overview of Western Thought and its Implications for the Social and the Natural World. The University of Berlin and the Fallacy of Misplaced Concreteness. An Alternative Worldview: The Philosophy of Organism. Some Aspects of a Postmodern University. Getting There. Index. REVIEWS: Thoughtful and well-written. Should be on the bookshelf of anyone concerned with serious futures in education. ~ Future Survey April 2003 In this provocative book, author Marcus Peter Ford warns "the world is on the verge of an ecological and social catastrophe...virtually unimaginable in its scope," and nothing short of a total restructuring of the modern university will rectify the situation. Regardless of the concerns that can be raised about Ford's solution, he has articulately highlighted the need for society to foster a more environmentally conscious and morally defensible worldview as a corrective to the excesses of materialism and individual self-interest. His vision of a better world is powerful-we just need a more practical means of getting there. ~ The NEA Higher Education Journal Winter 2004 | ||
